Western Liberty Bancorp Inc. in Las Vegas reported a third-quarter loss of $6.9 million, u 50% from the second quarter, due largely to a noncash goodwill impairment charge.
The $206 million-asset company, which released its earnings on Tuesday, said that it lost $11.9 million for the first nine months of the year. Prior to the company's October 2010 acquisition of the struggling Service1st Bank of Nevada, it had no operating entity. Because of this, year-over-year financial comparisons were not meaningful, the company said.
Noninterest expense totaled $8.6 million for the third quarter, including a $5.6 million goodwill impairment charge and a $686,000 impairment charge on foreclosed properties.
Nonperforming assets totaled $23 million, up 63% from the second quarter. The provision for loan losses totaled $1.7 million, down 60% from the second quarter, bringing the total provision for the year to date to $7.4 million.
The company also said on Tuesday that a September 2010 consent order from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and the Nevada Financial Institutions Divisions for Service1st had been lifted. The bank is now under a memorandum of understanding that requires it to maintain a Tier 1 leverage ratio of 8.5% and forbids it from paying dividends without approval. The bank also must revise its business plan to achieve profitability and reduce total adversely classified assets.
Formerly known as Global Consumer Acquisition Corp., Western Liberty was formed as a blank-check company about four years ago for the purpose of buying banks. In June, the company said that it had hired Sandler O'Neill & Partners L.P. to
